He may have failed to wrest the presidency from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but Mir Hossein Mousavi at least has the satisfaction of knowing his wife has helped wring an unexpected political concession from his main rival.

Zahra Rahnavard's appearance at her husband's side throughout his campaign highlighted the issue of women's rights in Iran and wooed many female voters to Mousavi's side.

Never before in the Islamic republic's 30-year history had a woman played such a high-profile political role, prompting some to compare Rahnavard – a sculptor and respected academic – with Michelle Obama.

Now her lasting impact has galvanised Ahmadinejad into a radical move that risks alienating his most religiously devout supporters. In announcing his intention to appoint three women cabinet members – including Fatemeh Ajorlou as social welfare minister and Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi as health minister – Ahmadinejad trumped the campaign pledges of his two other election rivals, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohzen Rezai, who each said they would appoint the country's first female cabinet minister since the 1979 revolution.

But the social pressures prompting the appointments long pre-dated the election campaign. "These appointments are a result of the pressure that women's demands have imposed on the system," said Asiyeh Amini, a leading women's activist.

Female protesters played a prominent role in the unrest after the disputed election, as illustrated by the case of Neda Agha Soltan, the 26-year-old woman who became the symbol of the demonstrations after her death at the hands of a sniper was caught on film and beamed across the world.